Dunn, Kaneland slam IMSA

Kaneland girls volleyball coach Cynthia Violett will know a great deal about her team prior to the start of Northern Illinois Big XII Conference action next week against DeKalb and Sycamore.

However, Violett, who is back at the helm she once held at Kaneland from 1994-2002, already has a good idea of where her team stands.

The Knights' convincing 25-13, 25-9 nonconference victory over Illinois Math & Science Academy (1-10) Thursday night in Maple Park capped a week that included a win over perennial power Montini.

"We beat Montini Tuesday night, which is a huge turning point for us," said Violett, whose team improved to 7-5. "We've been doing pretty well and we've been playing against some really tough competition."

Kaneland has already participated in tournaments at Wheaton North and Champaign Centennial and will head to another this weekend at Pontiac.

"There's a reason why we play those two early tournaments to get us going," said Violett. "We played against a lot of (Class) 4A schools and we'll see more 3A like LaSalle-Peru and Streator this weekend in Pontiac.

"Our goal is to get 15 matches in before we play conference."

Against IMSA, the Knights jumped out to a 17-4 lead in the opening game and cruised behind senior outside hitter Ellie Dunn, junior middle hitter Annmarie Franz, senior middle hitter Riley Hannula and sophomore setter Hannah Nauert.

Kaneland continued its dominance in Game 2, as powerful back-to-back kills from Dunn (8 kills) keyed a 10-2 lead that eventually grew to 20-6.

Junior outside hitter Jordan Hedgren (3 kills), junior outside hitter Samantha Burgin (3 kills, 1 ace), junior middle hitter McKenzie McMullan (2 kills), senior outside hitter Anna Senese (1 kill, 1 ace), Franz (3 kills, 1 block), Nauert (2 aces) and Hannula (1 kill, 1 ace) also contributed for the Knights.

"I think it is good for us to have some tournaments where maybe people aren't watching from our school or town so we can get the little kinks out and know what we need to work on when conference games start," said Dunn, who has committed to Ball State.

"We may not be the biggest team but we have more heart than anyone," added Dunn. "We proved it when we played Montini. If you have heart, you can win any game."

Violett is pleased to have Dunn on her side.

"Ellie is our go-to girl," said the Knights' coach. "She's very humble and makes sure everybody else gets their sets. She understands that if the middles aren't hitting, she is going to be blocked all night."

Along with the 5 returning seniors and varsity veterans Nauert and McMullan, the Knights possess additional depth thanks to varsity newcomers Hollie Fedderly, Kathy Nguyen, Alexandria Anderson, Burgin, Franz and Hedgren.

Taylor Reyes had 3 kills while Heidi Dong added a kill and an ace for IMSA.